So... Homeschooling?

*The following post is from July 2014. I was going to delete it, but decided to put it on here anyway. I need content, dang it! LOL Enjoy!

Good evening!

It's been about three years since I began this blog. So much has taken place that I'd have to write a screenplay to document it all!

I'm not joking, I might actually do that!

One of the biggest changes is our decision to homeschool our children for the next school year! We've talked about it for years, but up until now we've been waiting for the perfect time to do it. Our last hope in the schooling system was a new charter school that opened up in 2013. The school was (and still is) AMAZING! But there were so many changes throughout the year with staff and structure, that our reasons for liking the school slowly diminished. The remaining staff is amazing, and if I had to put my children in a school again, it would likely be that one. Hopefully they'll have worked out a few of the kinks we noticed over the year, and if we come back all will be well.

Towards the end of the school year, after looking at each of our children's individual learning styles and finally getting a complete understanding of what each of them need, we felt that now is the right time. Not to mention, Zuzu will be starting school for the first time! Her personality is so amazing... we watched Who better to help our children understand their unique learning styles than their mother and father? We've been blessed to be able to work from home, which allows us to focus on them.

After looking up our state's homeschooling laws/requirements, we realized that we have SO much room to teach and raise our children with our values. We can teach them all core and advanced subjects while focusing on what each child is struggling with.

And surprisingly our state's homeschooling laws are not as strict as I thought! We have to just be sure to meet the required number of hours per year, and file the proper document each year. That's it! We can structure our "curriculum" however we like! We are not bound by the same timelines, testing or rules as traditional schools.

Oh, and FYI: Online schools such as K12 are NOT home schools. You are still bound by the rules of the state school district you reside in.

So, we told the girls and they're ECSTATIC! They've been begging us to do this for years. We told them it will be a 1 year trial, to see how much they progress. We will document and share some of our moments during this learning process; because we're sure it will be a learning experience for Al and I as well as the girls!

So, stay tuned... this should be interesting!

Love,
Netta

Update: Yeah... we're no longer homeschooling. LOL Maybe I'll do a video about that one day. But in a nutshell, it could have worked; but there were too many distractions, none of which could be avoided... and we couldn't let the girls suffer. So we enrolled them back into school, and they're doing well.

But we STILL practice some of the same techniques with our girls everyday. We've used these study techniques to raise their grades and test scores. We're happy with the decision, and the girls are doing great.

MY FIRST BLOG!

So... This is my first blog!

Typical... I'm sure first time bloggers always say that! And I'm also sure that this blog will be full of those pesky cliches associated with people who have no concrete idea of what they plan to share with the world.  But guess what, who cares? I plan to use this blog to put to use ALL the cliches people use when trying to turn their lives around :-)

Like:

"Every cloud has a silver lining."

Or the ever patronizing:

"If at first you don't succeed, try try again!"

 Or one of my favorites:

"What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger."

Now please don't get me wrong, these cliches are awesome.  They can absolutely be the little voice in the back of your mind that gets you going.  But the problem is (at least for me) I start off with the best intentions of turning my life into the visions I see in my dreams; and somehow those dreams get lost in the drama of everyday living.

I'm a wife, and mother to four amazing little girls. My entire life is devoted to God, then my family.  Any one who knows me, knows this.  But lately, I've been feeling as if I've lost sight of myself; like I've lost sight of the person with all of the dreams before the family.  And because of this, I've begun this unhealthy circle of distracted living.

What's "distracted living?"  It's this thing I came up with to describe the way I've been functioning.  For example:  I sit down to plan dinner, but my mind is thinking of the lyrics to a song I could be writing.  Or I sit down to write a chapter to a novel, but my mind jumps to braiding hair or making dinner.  Instead of really taking a look at my life as a whole and getting organized, I deal with things as they happen.  And as a result, I've been "half doing" all of the things that are so important to me.  My family suffers, my dreams suffer, and as a result our quality of life is diminished.

Getting married doesn't stop the dreams from coming.  And having children doesn't stop the desire to do what your heart absolutely loves!  So I never use it as an excuse.  NEVER.  If I want the things I so desire in this life, then I have to GO GET THEM!  As much as my husband encourages me to go; it won't matter if I don't take the first step.

I've written out my dreams and plans tons of times.  But they stayed neatly hidden in my notebooks, never making it to the light of day.  I can't count how many times I've shared these dreams with loved ones, only to have them encourage me to FINISH... only to back into a corner at the first sight of difficulty.

So today, I MAKE A MOVE.  I start doing something!  I begin with two of my first loves: writing and helping people.  I am putting myself out there not for some self seeking glorification from people I don't know, but to help someone see that they are NOT the only ones going through these things alone.

I follow another saying on a daily basis: LIVE, LAUGH, and LOVE.

LIVE: No matter what happens, I don't quit.  I have SOMETHING to live for.  And if that were to change, I'd remember to find those who love me and share my concerns with them.

LAUGH: I make mistakes.  And when I do, I learn to LAUGH at myself! Lighten up! Stop looking at the bumps in the road as the end.  Laugh a little you may be able to see that "every cloud has a silver lining." (lol... I had to throw that in there!)

And LOVE:  One of the best ways to receive love is to GIVE love.  If you're feeling unloved, find someone or something to share love with!  If you don't have family, volunteer at a shelter.  If you like animals, try the humane society.

Okay... I'm blogging at 4 AM when I should be asleep (distracted living) lol  But I'm done.  This was actually a lot easier than I thought.

To sum up my thoughts: BLOGGING... VERY THERAPEUTIC!

~That is all... Carry on!~

Netta Renee